Hawks-Bucks Preview

The Atlanta Hawks are already dealing with injuries, and now they’re expected to be without their starting point guard.

The Milwaukee Bucks aren’t likely to miss Jeff Teague.

With Teague sidelined for at least two games, the Hawks will try to bounce back from their worst offensive showing of the season and continue their success against the Bucks on Saturday night.

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Atlanta (22-20) has already lost center Al Horford (torn right pectoral) for the season, and rookie Pero Antic – Horford’s replacement – is out two to four weeks with a stress fracture in his right ankle.

Starting forward DeMarre Carroll could miss a second straight game nursing a hamstring injury.

Teague, though, has already been ruled out for Saturday and Monday at Oklahoma City after hurting his ankle coming down on Tim Duncan’s foot late in the second quarter of a 105-79 loss to San Antonio on Friday. The Hawks were already down to 10 players before Teague’s injury.

"I think nobody else in the league cares if there’s a mounting toll or what our injury status is," coach Mike Budenholzer said.

The Bucks (8-34) probably don’t since the Hawks have won seven of the past eight meetings, sweeping the four-game season series in 2012-13. They won both visits to Milwaukee by a combined six points, including a 104-99 victory on March 24.

Atlanta hasn’t won five straight against the Bucks since a six-game run March 8, 1996-March 7, 1997.

Moving closer to matching that stretch may be made tougher without Teague, who averaged 22.0 points and 9.5 assists while shooting 54.8 percent from the field – 6 of 13 from long range – against Milwaukee last season.

Shelvin Mack, rookie Dennis Schroder and Lou Williams are expected to try to fill the void left by Teague’s absence.

Showing improvement from the floor is probably a priority after the Hawks shot 38.2 percent and missed 11 of 13 3s to finish with a season-low in points Friday. They had topped 100 points in each of the previous four games, averaging 114.3 while winning two of the past three.

Paul Millsap was key in those victories, totaling 50 points while sinking 17 of 30 field goals. However, he followed that by going 6 for 17 from the floor with a team-high 15 points, eight rebounds and four steals Friday.

The forward had 22 points, eight rebounds and three steals for Utah in a 109-108 loss in his most recent visit to Milwaukee on March 4.

League-worst Milwaukee is trying to win back-to-back home games for the first time since March 17-19.

The Bucks, who average 89.0 points at home, beat visiting Detroit 104-101 on Wednesday to snap a nine-game overall losing streak.

They failed to build on that in any fashion Friday, losing 93-78 at Cleveland while shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and getting outrebounded 52-34.

"It’s happened all year," said forward Ersan Ilyasova, who had five points on 2 for 10 from the field. "We always give up separation (on the scoreboard) and can’t come back. We always find a way to give up the game."

Brandon Knight was held to eight points on 4-of-12 shooting by the Cavaliers after averaging 22.5 over the four previous games. The guard could be in for another tough meeting since he’s been held to 8.2 points per game in his past five meetings with Atlanta.